The Old One
by Marcus S. Lazarus
Summary: -Seq. to 'TGitT'- Investigating the mystery of 'Doyle', SG-1 arrive in Los Angeles just in time to witness the resurrection of an ancient nightmare.
1. Coming to Los Angeles

Disclaimer: _Stargate: SG-1_ and all related concepts are the property of MGM, while the character of Spike belongs to Joss Whedon and James Marsters, among other people (Also, the original idea for this series came from Jedi Buttercup's 'An Unexpected Gift', so I don't own it either, although I _have _put my own spin on things, and have been given his full permission to use his idea)

Feedback: I'd appreciate it, of course

AN: This is a sequel to 'The Ghost in the Team', which featured Spike joining SG-1 in Season Ten after the amulet containing his essence was discovered by Riley after the fall of Sunnydale and sent to the SGC; if you want more details, you MUST read the preceding story before this one.

The Old One

It might have taken over a month to be sure that everything had been neatly resolved, but it had finally been confirmed; the Ori _were _dead.

With confirmation that even the Doci was unable to make contact with the Ori from his seat in Cori Celestis, and the bloodied body of Adria serving as further evidence that the Ori weren't infallible gods, the Ori's former worshipers had been far more willing to accept the SGC's explanation for the true nature of their 'gods'. It would take a while for them to adjust to the rapid shift that their society had experienced, but Tomin had appeared to be willing to take on a leader role when he returned, recognising the distinction between the message that Origin could have on its own and the Ori's attempts to pervert that image, and he had already started trying to 'convert' some of his crew to share his views and consider his new perspective. Vala's last parting with Tomin had been awkward, but he had accepted her decision to remain in this galaxy with SG-1. He had even spoken with Spike after learning about Vala's new relationship with the vampire, accepting Spike's word that he would take care of her- even if Spike noted that Vala would be taking care of him just as much- and expressing gratitude that Vala had found someone.

As for Spike and Vala, their relationship was still progressing at a tentative rate compared to some of Spike's past liaisons- their half-nude make-out sessions in that closet after the Sangraal was activated was the closest they'd come to actually having sex so far- but Spike was actually rather content with that; considering he mess that he'd made of things with Buffy, the vampire felt that it might do him some good to try and establish a more platonic bond this time around before diving into something deeper.

Speaking of relationships, the recent shift in Sam and Daniel's relationship had actually gone done fairly well with those concerned, despite the obvious potential questions it had raised. The discovery that the SGC's chief scientist and chief archaeologist were now in a relationship had sparked off a few questions and objections from the SGC's supervising officials, but with their reputations taken into account, coupled with the support of Generals O'Neill and Hammond, it had been decided that the two of them could remain on SG-1 for a probationary period at least, to confirm how their relationship affected their judgement (Spike had noted that O'Neill seemed a bit on edge when discussing the topic of the relationship, but had decided not to press it; he'd done it in Sunnydale when he first fought Buffy and Angel after the poof's soul was restored, but there were some things he knew to leave alone now).

With the threat of war now taken off the table and all precautions taken to protect Spike while offworld, the vampire had actually been surprised at how easily he had settled into his new routine. Even his diet had been less of an issue than he'd expected; he had taken to feeding from the SGC infirmary's nearly-expired donated blood, which actually saved the SGC a surprising amount of money by preventing them having to incinerate it as they brought in new stock. It wasn't overly appetising, but it was still better quality than the animal blood he'd been forced to rely on in Sunnydale, and he had an unspoken understanding with his teammates that he could feed in combat so long as he didn't make a habit of it and was certain nobody would need to talk to his victims later.

For the next couple of weeks, however, the entirety of SG-1 was on stand-down, taking a well-deserved time out after the stress of the last few weeks; taking point during their talks with the remaining Ori soldiers on their last two battlecruisers had not been an easy task after they had essentially killed their gods, even with Tomin serving as an intermediary. With the galaxy at peace once again, Teal'c had gone back to Dakara to talk with some of the Jaffa about their plans for the future, particularly regarding their continued alliance with Earth after Spike had single-handedly saved Dakara, while Mitchell was using the leave opportunity to attend his high school reunion.

With nothing else demanding their immediate attention, Sam, Daniel and Vala had agreed to accompany Spike in investigating the card he'd received from the mysterious 'Doyle' shortly after his return to corporeal form. Initially Vala had been the only one coming, but when Spike had told them more about Angel and his business in Los Angeles, Sam and Daniel had both expressed an interest in coming along, Daniel for the chance to learn more about the supernatural and Sam for the opportunity to analyse more examples of magic than what Spike had managed to show them so far. After making arrangements for a couple of weeks off- both scientists wanted time to talk with Angel and his friends, regardless of how long it might take Spike to find his target- the four of them had set off for the city, checking into a hotel and renting a car before setting off to investigate the card.

As the car pulled up outside the address listed on the card, Spike's hopes at finding answers faltered as he took in the sight in front of them; the apartment block he was looking at had clearly not been habited for a while, and when they went to the apartment indicated on the card, all they found was a sparsely furnished basement flat that didn't even have an invitation barrier.

"Why would anyone want you to come here?" Vala asked, looking at Spike in confusion as he walked through the apartment, taking in his surroundings as his three teammates stood in the main living area.

"No idea," Spike said, shaking his head in frustration. "Maybe he wanted to set me up with a place while I carried out his 'missions'?"

"I'm still not clear on how anyone could actually claim to see the future," Vala said. "I mean, even the Ori never claimed that…"

"Well, seeing the future is always a complicated thing to predict; sometimes what you do to avert your vision ends up causing it," Sam said. "We had an experience with that a few years back; Daniel's temporary replacement while he was Ascended, Jonas Quinn, ended up gaining the ability to see the future after a Goa'uld experimented on him, and we theorised that it was allowing him to determine possible futures based on him processing particular patterns, but the visions also resulted in a tumour from the excess brain tissue he was developing."

"Ah," Spike said. "Not a good thing, eh?"

"The tumour would have killed Jonas if he hadn't been operated on in time," Sam confirmed, before she continued her original explanation. "The point is that Jonas was able to change the outcome of at least one vision when he had it in time and was able to warn us about it later, but another vision he had may have actually created the circumstances that led to what he saw; he foresaw me being injured and came to stop me going through the Stargate on our next mission, but I ended up getting hurt while carrying out some repair work back at the base instead."

"And didn't you end up fulfilling a local prophecy about the natives being freed from their god _because_ Jonas's last vision was averted?" Daniel asked, looking thoughtfully at Sam. "I mean, I read about it in one of Jonas's reports when I was catching up on the year I was away…"

"Yeah… I try not to think about that too much," Sam admitted, looking back at Spike. "No offence intended, but even if Merlin confirmed that magic is possible, I don't see how prophecies and the like can be valid on a world that wasn't affected by that experiment he told you about…"

"Something to think about later," Spike said, looking around the room in frustration for a moment before he sighed and shrugged. "Well, this is a dead-end, so we should probably check in with Peaches; if he doesn't know something, he might be able to lead us to who does."

"Uh… 'Peaches'?" Daniel repeated.

"That's… Angel, right?" Sam asked, looking at Spike for confirmation. "The… first vampire with a soul?"

"That's 'im," Spike said, nodding at Sam before he shrugged, ignoring the habitual temptation to insult Angel; he'd moved on from those days. "Anyway, I've got a bar or two I can check out, but I'll need to drop in on my own first; lips'll be looser if we don't have people there wonderin' when I'll be offerin' you all 'round."

"Offering us…?" Daniel said uncertainly.

"Kind of bars I'll be checkin' out could have a tendency to prefer humans as a course rather than guests," Spike said bluntly. "Might risk it if you knew more about this side of the tracks, but you'd be out of your depth and you'd show it; easier to go it alone right now."

His three friends were clearly not entirely satisfied with Spike's explanation, but the grim resignation on their faces at least showed that they were willing to accept his decision in this regard even if they didn't entirely like it.

* * *

Walking into the chosen bar, Spike just hoped that his 'disguise' of a tweed suit and Stetson hat held up (And the sooner he got out of this, the better; his new friends might be too polite to actually laugh, but they clearly found his current look far too amusing for his taste). He hadn't been in Los Angeles for some time, and his activities in Sunnydale since getting the chip had generally been comparatively low-key considering that he'd killed most of the vampires who learned about his new allegiances, but he'd made enough of a reputation before arriving in Sunnydale to leave him inclined to take care.

Still, with the new suit, and the obvious bonus that any demons here probably thought he was dead if they knew anything about what he'd been up to back on the Hellmouth, he _thought _he'd get through this all right…

After taking a couple of drinks and exchanging words with some of his fellow customers, Spike studied the surroundings for a short while before his gaze settled on a somewhat overweight demon with thick arms, long claws, and three large horns on his head. Putting down his latest drink, Spike walked over to sit beside the other demon, taking a moment to let his new companion look at him before he spoke.

"Heard you've got your ear to the ground on recent events," he said at last.

"I know people who know people," the demon replied. "Why'd you ask?"

"Looking for the vamp formerly known as Angelus," Spike said briefly. "Where is he?"

"That vampire?" the demon said, looking at Spike in surprise. "I thought everyone knew-"

"I've been busy last few months; contacts fell to the side," Spike clarified, fixing his gaze on the demon. "Where is he?"

"You don't know where Angel is?" the demon said, smiling slightly at the question. "I'd have thought every vampire knew that; he's running Wolfram & Hart."

Spike blinked.

"Wolfram & Hart?" he repeated. "As in, the law firm that represents most of the evil on this plane?"

"Bingo," the demon confirmed. "He took over after that whole Jasmine thing a few months back; nobody's clear on why, so don't ask…"

Spike wasn't even really paying attention to the demon at this point, his thoughts consumed by the questions that he'd just been presented with.

_Angel _working for _Wolfram & Hart_? OK, it wasn't like he'd spent a lot of time with his grandsire since the guy had relocated here, but he knew what the first vampire with a soul was capable of, and taking charge of the bad guys with his soul was _not _on that list…

On the bright side, he knew that he wasn't dealing with Angelus; Angelus would probably just have slaughtered the firm and moved on if they tried to give him any kind of authority to tie him down somewhere. His grandsire might be the better planner, willing to draw out his time playing with his food to make it really enjoyable, but he'd never enjoyed it when people _made _him stay somewhere.

The only question was whether Angel had finally gone over the edge, or if he had some kind of weird plan that Spike just didn't know about right now…

His next move already decided on, Spike stood up and walked out of the bar, ignoring the demon's attempt to say something else; whatever Angel's reasons for being at Wolfram & Hart, if anyone knew anything about this 'Doyle' guy, Angel probably either knew something already or knew someone who would.

On the bright side, getting into the building shouldn't be too difficult; Wolfram & Hart might be evil, but they weren't about to just kill people for walking into the office. If he could just get in there and find out if Angel knew anything about 'Doyle', then he and his new team could get back to their vacation…

* * *

AN 2: Sorry that Angel and his team didn't appear here; they'll be showing up in the next chapter, I assure you… and that's when things get _really _interesting…


	2. Vampire Reunion

Disclaimer: _Stargate: SG-1_ and all related concepts are the property of MGM, while the character of Spike belongs to Joss Whedon and James Marsters, among other people (Also, the original idea for this series came from Jedi Buttercup's 'An Unexpected Gift', so I don't own it either, although I _have _put my own spin on things, and have been given his full permission to use his idea)

Feedback: I'd appreciate it, of course

AN: Considering certain details, I feel I should go on record to clarify that I'm operating on the assumption that the events of the Buffy/Angel crossover novel 'Monster Island' took place in this world, thus accounting for Angel's team recognising Spike. Also, you'll probably recognise where this takes place in Angel's timeline by the time the chapter concludes, but let me know if you want clarification on anything else

The Old One

Walking out of the elevator into the main office, Spike was left with further doubts about the accuracy of his source; this place looked _far _too modern for Angel to be in charge (His grandsire might not live in a crypt, but he wasn't exactly comfortable with modern technology either).

OK, so the guy on the ground floor had confirmed that 'Mr Angel' was in his office on this level, but that really didn't mean much…

"Blondie-Bear?" a familiar voice said from behind him.

"Wha- _Harmony_?" Spike yelled, turning to stare in shock at the blonde vampire sitting behind the reception desk; of everyone he'd expected to recognise in this place, this ex hadn't even made the list. "What the hell are _you _doing here?"

"I work here," Harmony said, looking pointedly at him. "What the _hell_ are you doing here, Spike… and what's with these guys?"

"Oh, we work with him," Vala said, walking up to Harmony with a smile as she held out a hand. "Vala Mal Doran; I'm dating Spike."

"Dating?" Harmony repeated.

"Uh… like Spike said, we work with him," Daniel said, looking apologetically at the blonde vampire, evidently wanting to get the conversation away from that issue. "I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson, and this is Colonel Samantha Carter; we need to speak to Angel about… well, it's complicated."

"Colonel?" Harmony repeated, looking at Sam in surprise before she turned to Spike. "You're working with-"

"They're not with Captain Cardboard's old crew, Harm… and I'm _not _talking to you about this, so could you just let us in?" Spike asked, indicating the door just as it opened to reveal Angel, dressed in a dark suit and shirt, staring at him in surprise.

"_Spike_?" he said, looking incredulously at the other vampire. "You're alive?"

"Have been for a bit now… well, as alive as we ever get, anyway," Spike said, smiling slightly at his grandsire before he shrugged and indicated his new associates. "Anyway, me and my team here need to talk with you for a bit 'bout something; can we come in?"

"Uh… OK," Angel said, clearly bemused at Spike's manner even as he stepped aside to let him into the office.

On reflection, Spike supposed that he couldn't blame Angel for being surprised at his attitude; the time was that he and his grandsire would have started exchanging verbal if not physical blows the moment they were in the same room, and here he was, showing up with three strangers and no sign that he wanted a fight.

"OK," he said, looking curiously at the other vampire as Angel closed the door of his office, "first things first; what the hell is Harmony doing as your secretary?"

"That was Wes's idea," Angel said, shaking his head slightly at the memory. "He thought that I'd… appreciate a familiar face."

"You met Harm?" Spike asked.

"She showed up here a few years ago and tried to work with the agency before selling us out to a vampire pyramid scheme," Angel said.

"A vampire pyramid scheme?" Sam repeated, looking at Angel in confusion. "How would that work?"

"One vampire turns two people and captures at least one more person for the group's blood bank," Angel clarified, before looking at Sam in confusion. "And who are you?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter," Sam replied, smiling politely at Angel. "These are my… teammates, Doctor Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran; Spike's become a member of our team since he joined us."

"Since he… joined you?" Angel said, shaking his head before he looked at Spike. "OK, first things first, how are you still alive? Buffy… she told me that you were destroyed using that amulet…"

"I was," Spike said, shrugging slightly. "Don't know how, but somehow the thing just _absorbed _me until it spat me out as a ghost after it was delivered to these sods by Captain Cardboard-"

"_Riley_ sent you to the military?" Angel interjected, eyes widening in surprise. "I knew you two didn't get on, but-"

"Actually, Major Finn just intended to send us the amulet because he… thought we might find it useful," Sam interrupted. "I'd explain more, but you'd need to sign some confidentiality forms before you're cleared to hear all that."

"Confidentiality forms?" Angel repeated.

"Trust me, they're serious 'bout their paperwork back at base," Spike said. "I was aware of their secrets for ages before I got my body back, and they _still _made me sign all of the damn things once I could…"

"Got your body back?" Angel said, shaking his head in confusion as he focused his attention back on Spike. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, when I first got out of the amulet I was in some kind of weird intangible state- spent a lot of time walking through walls and occasionally hitting stuff- but managed to get past that after some whole… _thing _happened that I can't talk about," Spike said, shrugging as he looked at his grandsire. "Like I said, it's a whole complicated story that they're not authorised to tell you without the right paperwork; all you need to know right now is that they deal with some weird stuff without repeating Cornfed's mistake of thinking they know it all already."

"I… see," Angel said, looking sceptically at Spike for a moment before he shrugged. "Well, you may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I doubt you'd fall for the same stunt twice."

"Twice?" Daniel asked.

"Spike was captured by the Nazis in 1943 with claims of a free virgin blood party," Angel answered, smiling slightly at the memory. "They were going to use him as part of demon-related experiments before the Americans captured the sub he was on and I helped them get it back to port-"

"Sorry to interrupt, but I just have to clarify something," Vala said, looking at Spike in surprise. "You fell for a story like _that_?"

"I had a… very interesting life, but I wasn't always the sharp one of the bunch," Spike said, shrugging awkwardly at Vala before he looked back at Angel. "And talking of interesting lives… where's Buffy?"

"Europe, last I heard," Angel replied, looking probingly at Spike. "And if you're-"

"I'm not goin' after her," Spike interrupted.

"You're not?" Angel said, confusion overshadowed by surprise at that news.

"Had some time to think while I was away, and… well, I like to think I've moved on a bit," Spike said, smiling slightly awkwardly at Angel; a century of habit was rebelling against him even being this open with his grandsire, but at the same time he knew that this had to be said. "You tell anyone else I told you this and I'll deny it 'til the cows come home, but when I was here during that whole thing with the Coalition… you made a good point when we were talkin' after you nearly got flash-fried by that Axtius bloke's trap and you accused me of wantin' to be you."

"I did?" Angel said, looking at his grandchilde in surprise. "And you admit it?"

"Like I said, I'll deny it if you talk 'bout it outside these walls, but you were right; everything I did since bein' turned was done because I wanted to beat you at your own game," Spike said, lost for anything better to say as he looked at his fellow vampire. "These last few months, though… well, I'm not sayin' anything about them until I can, but I'll just tell you know that I've made an interestin' life for myself since I ended up workin' with these guys, and I'm not goin' to mess that up by trying to dig into a past that'll never be what I really wanted."

"Oh," Angel said, lost for anything better to say. "That's… surprisingly mature of you."

"I've been through a lot," Spike said, before his eyes narrowed. "By the way, what are you even doin' here? Last time I checked, Wolfram & Hart represented most of the evil on this plane; what are you doing in _charge _of it?"

"Actually, I'm just in charge of this branch," Angel explained. "And to answer your question, the original staff were all killed by a particularly powerful demon and we were offered control of the firm after we ended world peace."

"You ended world peace?" Daniel repeated in surprise.

"It was world peace at the cost of slavish loyalty to a former higher power who ate a dozen or so people a day and rendered humanity incapable of doing anything more than worshipping her all the time," Angel clarified as he looked firmly at the archaeologist. "Maybe people weren't being forced into anything, but I wasn't going to let humanity lose free will just because it was easier."

"Ah," Sam said, shaking her head as she looked contemplatively at Angel. "And I thought we dealt with some weird things…"

"For what it's worth, I'm sure we all agree with you," Daniel said.

"And considering that this guy was briefly trusted with the power and knowledge of Merlin, I think we can agree he's a good egg," Spike added.

"Merlin?" Angel said.

"That's… a complicated story," Daniel said, shrugging as he looked at the vampire. "Anyway, we had another reason for being here; we wondered if you knew anything about someone called 'Doyle'?"

"Doyle?" Angel repeated, looking sharply at Daniel. "What do you mean?"

"Few weeks ago, some long-haired git dressed like an urban cowboy showed up, claiming that he wanted to talk to me about my destiny and asking me to meet him in this city," Spike explained. "He claimed to have tried to make me corporeal again with a spell he'd sent me in a cardboard box a while back- stupid sod thought I'd go along with his suggestions because he _claimed _he'd been tryin' to help me- and wanted me to ditch what I was doing to go along with what he expected."

"And you weren't interested, I take it?" Angel asked, smiling slightly as he looked at the other vampire.

"Aside from the fact that the sod hadn't really _done _anything to help me, Danny here was currently AWOL after being abducted by a psychopath with religious-related delusions," Spike answered, indicating the archaeologist with a slight smile. "Guy'd been a big help to me while I was settling into the team; I wasn't about to just leave him hanging out there if there was anything I could do to get him back…"

He shrugged. "Point is, now that Danny's back and things are wrapped up- again, something you'll need to fill in those forms to learn more about- I wondered if you had any idea what Doyle was talking about?"

"You said that this… 'Doyle'… wanted you to come to Los Angeles to help people?" Angel asked, looking thoughtfully at Spike.

"Seemed to be leading up to that point," Spike confirmed. "Why?"

"Is this him?" Angel asked, tapping a few quick keys on his computer and turning it around to reveal what seemed to be a staff photograph for a 'Lindsey McDonald'.

"Yeah…" Spike said, suddenly looking suspiciously at Angel. "He works for you?"

"Actually, he worked for Wolfram & Hart about three years ago," Angel replied, smiling slightly at the memory. "He was basically the company's golden boy until he became disillusioned with some of their more ruthless policies; he went off to go find himself, and I never knew what happened to him until he came back a few months ago trying to sabotage my position here. He ended up trying to unleash some kind of monster that the Senior Partners had set up in case I proved too difficult to control a couple of weeks ago, but we defeated him and destroy the protective sigils he was using to shield himself from the Senior Partners; last time I saw him, he had been taken by the Senior Partners to be interrogated about his actions."

"Ah," Spike said, nodding in understanding. "Well… that makes sense."

"So… why would he call himself 'Doyle'?" Sam asked.

"Doyle was the name of a friend of mine back when I started living here," Angel explained, his expression suddenly grim. "He had visions of people in trouble, until he sacrificed himself to save a ship full of half-demons from a group of demon supremacists known as the Scourge; I'm guessing that Lindsey was trying to get you to supplant me as the vampire champion so that the Senior Partners would think they'd made a mistake putting me in charge; from what he said when I found him, he was just angry that I'd basically been handed everything he'd tried so hard to get on his own."

"And he thought seeing me be you would help him do that?" Spike asked.

"That's… an indirect way of mounting an attack," Daniel noted.

"That was Lindsey for you," Angel said with a shrug. "He tended to avoid direct action until he had to."

"But the important thing is that he's gone and Spike doesn't have to worry about him any more?" Vala asked.

"Unlikely," Angel said, nodding briefly at her before he looked curiously at the other three. "So… you work for the government, you know that Spike's a vampire… and you're just… OK with that?"

"It's been a strange adjustment, but we concluded that he… offered some advantages that we couldn't easily overlook," Sam explained, shrugging slightly at Angel. "I'd give you more, but like I said, what we do is highly classified-"

"Get medical!" someone suddenly yelled from the hall outside. "Someone get medical NOW!"

As Angel ran out of his office to investigate the source of the yell, their current conversation clearly forgotten in favour of this new matter, the other four only needed a moment's glance before they were following the vampire. It was easy enough to identify the source of the distressed call; a man who seemed be slightly younger than Daniel was crouched half-way up a set of stairs, holding a convulsing young brunette in his arms as a man with green skin and red horns stared anxiously at them.

"Fred?" Angel said, looking anxiously at the young woman as he crouched down beside the two. "Wes, what happened?"

"I-I don't know," the man- 'Wes'- said, looking shakily up at Angel. "She said that she inhaled mummy dust earlier, but medical said she was fine…"

"Mummy dust?" Daniel repeated, looking curiously at the other man. "From what?"

"I-I don't…" Wes began, before he looked up and seemed to realise that he didn't know who this new arrival was. "Who are-?"

"He's with me," Spike said, nodding briefly at Wes as he joined the group. "Wes, this is Doctor Daniel Jackson, brilliant archaeologist; you got any kind of mummy, odds are he's read about it and can take a look-"

"We'll talk about what _you're _doing here later, Spike," Wes said, glaring briefly at the vampire before he picked Fred up in his arms and began to run back up the stairs and along another corridor, the purpose in his manner making it clear that he was heading for the aforementioned medical division.

"Angelcakes, what's-?" the green man began.

"Later, Lorne," Angel said, before he turned to Daniel. "You as good as Spike said you are?"

"Yes," Daniel said, nodding at the other vampire.

"Lorne, take Doctor Jackson here to the science lab so that he can check out that sarcophagus," Angel said, before he looked at Spike, Vala and Sam. "For the moment, you're staying with me until we can sort this out; clear?"

"You can't think _we_-?" Vala began.

"I don't," Angel said, looking over at Spike as Daniel and Lorne departed for the lab. "No offence, but even if you were lying about everything you've been doing to try and catch me off-guard, you wouldn't be this indirect about attacking me."

"Thanks… I guess," Spike said, before he shrugged slightly as he looked at Angel. "That said, I take it you want us to stay close to stop anyone accusing us of anything?"

"Considering what you were up to the last time you were in my city, that's probably for the best," Angel said, before he turned to look at the two women. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry about this."

"We understand," Sam said, nodding in acknowledgement at Angel before she looked up the stairs after Wes and the girl.

Spike may still be new to the team, but he and Sam had spent enough time together in that other reality for him to know what she was thinking right now; regardless of the confidentiality issues, if there was anything that they could do to save that girl, they were going to do it.


	3. Theories for Salvation

Disclaimer: _Stargate: SG-1_ and all related concepts are the property of MGM, while the character of Spike belongs to Joss Whedon and James Marsters, among other people (Also, the original idea for this series came from Jedi Buttercup's 'An Unexpected Gift', so I don't own it either, although I _have _put my own spin on things, and have been given his full permission to use his idea)

Feedback: I'd appreciate it, of course

The Old One

Standing in Fred's room as they waited for her to recover, Angel didn't know what should concern him more right now; Fred's mysterious condition, or the fact that Spike had shown up 'alive' several months after his apparent death in the destruction of Sunnydale, only to apparently be working for the military with no sign of coercion.

It wasn't that he wasn't as concerned about Fred as the rest of the gang- she'd been the first person to see his demon and still have faith in him even without hearing his true story- but Lawson's recent visit had stirred up memories of his own brief time as an unwilling recruit for the government, so he was entitled to be a bit suspicious about the idea of a military operation that seemed this comfortable having a vampire as a member…

In the end, however, the strangest thing was that he actually believed everything Spike had told him. The idea of his grand-childe willingly working for someone long-term might be strange, but he'd seen no sign since their arrival that Spike's current 'teammates' were doing anything to try and force him to stay with them or anything like that- the looks he kept exchanging with that 'Vala' woman were particularly significant in Angel's opinion- and while he might consider Spike an idiot at times, the other vampire wasn't_ completely _stupid; he would have figured out some way to escape those three if he didn't want to be with them.

Unfortunately, as much as Angel wished he could take some time to work out what kind of military organisation would find it useful to employ an archaeologist and a vampire if it wasn't dealing with demons in some way, he had more immediate matters to deal with right now; whatever was wrong with Fred, it was very clearly going to be dangerous if they didn't find some way to stop it. The medical staff had already taken extensive X-rays and run quite a few tests on her with some disturbing results, but he was waiting for Fred to wake up before they left her on her own so that she'd know what they were doing.

"It's my boys…" Fred's voice said, breaking Angel's train of thought as she slowly opened her eyes, looking at the group around her with a smile that only briefly faltered as she took in Spike and his new friends. "Who…?"

"They're friends," Angel said, stepping forward slightly to account for that piece of the puzzle himself; Wes, Gunn and Lorne had been surprised to see Spike in the firm, but they had accepted Angel's argument that this wasn't the time to ask questions about that when they had more urgent matters to discuss, even if they were all keeping an eye on the three strangers.

"You sure gave us all a big scare, Freddles," Lorne said, looking anxiously at her as he sat on the edge of her bed.

"You just need to rest," Angel said softly. "The lab is doing some blood work."

"I'm a mummy, aren't I?" Fred asked, her tone sounding resigned to her fate.

"I've fought plenty of mummies, and none of 'em were as pretty as you," Spike noted with a slight smile. "Almost none."

"Now y'all are being too comforting," Fred said, her eyes shut before she focused her gaze on Gunn. "What's really up?"

"You're sick," Gunn replied. "And you're makin' it worse by worryin'."

"We've got that sarcophagus under the scope," Knox put in (Angel wasn't as sure about that guy, but he was the official head of the science department now that Fred was… incapacitated). "If it gave you anything, we'll isolate it in a few hours."

"So you don't know what it is?" Fred asked.

"Yet," Angel said firmly, hoping he sounded confident that they'd find the answers; anything Wolfram & Hart couldn't immediately identify had to be _really _old.

"OK," Fred said, simply accepting that statement.

"We're going to work on this," Angel said, smiling at her reassuringly as he indicated the new arrivals. "Shouldn't take long; we've even got some extra eyes for this one."

"Handsome man saves me," Fred said, smiling weakly at him.

"That's how it works," Angel confirmed, returning her smile. "Let's get crackin'."

With those words, the team filed out of the infirmary, only for Angel to pause after a few paces when he realised that Wesley wasn't with the rest of the group. Turning back to check on the infirmary, he paused outside the door as he saw Wesley sitting beside Fred, a tenderness about the ex-Watcher as he leaned over to kiss her forehead.

_Wes and Fred_…

Angel hadn't even known that they'd started dating recently, but now that he knew, he just had a further reason to try and save Fred; after everything she'd been through in Pylea, combined with what Wes had endured the last year alone (Even if he wasn't clear how much of that Wes remembered after all memory of Connor had been erased), they deserved that.

"How's she handling it?" he asked as Wes left the infirmary to join him, the group purposefully heading for the main lobby.

"She's smarter than all of us put together; she knows it's bad," Wesley said grimly.

"Not _all _of us, mate," Spike put in, indicating two of the people who'd come here with him. "Not denying she's bright, but Sam and Dan here have cracked a few scientific and archaeological mysteries over the years; be _very _surprised if they can't do anything to help us right now-"

"Don't," Angel said, glaring at his grand-childe before looking at the other two; he didn't have time to listen to the other vampire trying to pander to his ego, but he was willing to accept that these two may have some useful insight. "You're sure you can help?"

"This… isn't our area of expertise, but we'll do what we can," Sam said, shooting a reproachful glare at Spike even as she nodded at Angel, Spike's other two friends doing the same.

"What _is _this thing anyway?" Gunn asked. "I mean, what do we _know_?"

"Whatever she's got, it doesn't match up with any of the pathogens in our archives," Knox said. "It's mystical, and it's not ours."

"You're sure it's mystical?" Daniel asked. "I mean, it couldn't just be some kind of natural medical phenomenon?"

"It's… well, magic and science are tricky to bring together, but it's got the right traces to be mystical," Knox said, looking at Daniel in confusion. "I'm sorry; who _are _you?"

"Doctor Daniel Jackson," Daniel replied, smiling briefly at the other man. "I'm an archaeologist; I… work with Spike as part of an Air Force program in Colorado."

"Air Force?" Lorne said in surprise. "What-?"

"That's not relevant right now," Angel said firmly; even if he wanted to know the answers to that himself, they had to prioritise. "What _do _we know about that sarcophagus?"

"My team is cross-checking the symbols, but it's also new territory for us," Wes said.

"We've never seen anything like it either, if that helps," Vala put in.

"Angel, what exactly is happening to her?" Gunn asked, looking anxiously at the vampire. "You talked to the doctor-"

"They have something?" Wes asked.

"Yeah," Angel said, turning to look grimly at the group as they gathered around him in the main lobby. "Some parasitic agent is working its way through. I mean, as near as they can tell…"

"Get to the point," Wesley said firmly, clearly wanting his friend to cut to the chase. .

"Her organs are cooking," Angel said, fear evident on his face as he looked at his team. "In a day's time, they'll liquefy."

"Oh my God…" Sam said, staring at the other vampire in horror.

She'd encountered a lot of disturbing ways to die over her years in the Stargate program, but she could barely imagine what _that _would feel like…

"That's not happening," Daniel said firmly. "We are _going _to save your friend."

"We will," Angel said firmly as he looked at Daniel. "You're an archaeologist, right; good with languages?"

"Yeah…" Daniel said.

"Good," Angel said firmly. "You're with Wes; I need you both working on what was in that box. I need a name, history, anything."

"We can't get it open," Knox said. "Not even the lasers-"

"Where did it come from?" Wesley asked, turning to look at the other man.

"It just showed up," Knox said, almost ashamed at his own ignorance. "No return address; didn't recognize the guy who brought it in… come to think of it, in the middle of the night."

"This was deliberate," Angel said.

"Senior Partners?" Lorne asked.

"Doesn't add up, but I'll hit the White Room; talk to the conduit," Gunn suggested.

"If the Senior Partners don't know about this, you've got to get them to help us," Angel said (He'd worry about what Spike's new friends would make of this conversation later; if they were working with Spike in full knowledge of what he was, he'd assume they knew at least _some _details of what else was out there).

"Any way I can," Gunn said.

"What about that Lindsey character we were talking about earlier?" Vala asked. "I mean, if he was after you, couldn't he have done something like this?"

"I was looking to work the streets, and we've got his address," Angel said, nodding briefly in acknowledgement of Vala's suggestion. "For all we know, he's probably sitting there laughing. And if there's muscle work to do…"

"Let's make it twice as fast," Spike said.

"Count me in too," Vala said firmly, as she moved to stand beside Spike.

"And baby makes four," Lorne added. "Just in case anyone feels like singing."

"Singing?" Vala repeated.

"I can see your past and future when you sing," Lorne explained briefly.

"Good," Angel said, before Sam or Daniel could ask further questions. "Guys-"

"You don't have to say it," Wes began.

"I'll say it anyway," Angel said, grimly taking in the group around them. "Winifred Burkle. Go."

With those words, everyone headed off in separate directions, the 'street team' heading for the elevator down to the garage while Sam and Knox went towards the lab and Daniel joined Wes in going for his office.

Spike's friends might be strangers, but they were strangers who accepted Spike and lacked the hostility and arrogance of the Initiative that Angel had heard so much about; it couldn't hurt to at least give them a shot at trying to find something that could save Fred...

* * *

With Wesley going over his available books in his office, Daniel had decided to use the opportunity to study some of the other books in Angel's office; considering what Spike and Angel had told them about this firm's reputation, he and Sam didn't want to make their presence too public, and Angel's office had seemed like the best place for him to carry out his work without anyone walking in on him. Even with Spike's explanation and Merlin's remaining memories giving him a background in magic, it was still a shock to read this kind of detailed information about vampires and demons and know that it was _real_, rather than a misinterpretation of alien influence by a primitive culture.

He'd known going in that this wasn't going to be a conventional crisis for SG-1, but the end result was still the same; if they focused on pooling their resources, he'd been optimistic that they'd manage to find _something _that they could use to save Winifred Burkle.

Unfortunately, so far he was unable to find anything that accurately matched what was happening to the young physicist, and there was no sign that any of the other avenues of investigation were going to come to anything. Charles Gunn had briefly dropped in to tell him that his visit to the Conduit (Whatever that was) hadn't provided him with anything they could use, and Wesley had stated that he had found nothing the last time Daniel had dropped into his office to collect a new set of books.

The sound of someone at the door prompted him to turn around, but he relaxed when the only person to come in was Sam; she was clearly frustrated at what she'd discovered, or failed to discover, but otherwise seemed to be fairly together.

"Anything?" he asked, looking up at Sam.

"Not so far," Sam said, sighing in frustration as she sat down beside him. "I thought that we could buy some time by putting her in cryogenic suspension- they might not have Ancient technology, but they do have the best human science can offer- but this infection seems to be impervious to the cold. The blood tissues freeze, but whatever's infecting Miss Burkle just keeps on working; I'm not sure if even the Ancient chambers in the Antarctic research base would have any effect…"

Lost for anything he could say to that revelation, Daniel reached over to place a comforting hand on Sam's shoulder, looking sympathetically at his friend and girlfriend.

"You tried," he said, looking encouragingly at her. "That's all we can do right now…"

"The problem lies in the rapid rate of the infection," Sam said, shaking her head in frustration. "I know we're doing all that we can, but we can't be sure we'll even manage to find something before it kills her, and if we can't slow it down…"

"Hold on…" Daniel said, sitting up sharply as a thought occurred to him.

"What?" Sam asked, looking curiously at him.

"I might have something…" Daniel said, standing up thoughtfully and turning around just as Angel walked into the office, looking at the two of them in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" the other vampire asked.

"I… thought that you'd prefer it if we didn't make our presence here too public," Daniel said, indicating his surroundings with an uncertain wave before he looked at Angel in a more focused manner. "Actually, it's good to see you; I was wondered if you could tell me if you have any way to extract a soul?"

"Extract a soul?" Angel repeated, looking curiously at the archaeologist. "What do you-?"

"It just occurred to me that…" Daniel began, pausing momentarily before he made up his mind and looked directly at Angel. "In advance, I'm sorry if it's something you don't like to discuss, but if you and Spike could both get your souls _back_, isn't it possible to somehow remove the soul from a living being and keep it somewhere safe while the body's… well, like Fred?"

"Hold on; you're suggesting we… extract Fred's soul?" Angel asked, looking at Daniel in surprise. "And then what? If we can't cure her, she's still going to-"

"Cloning!" Sam said, her eyes widening in realisation as she looked at Daniel.

"Cloning?" Angel repeated, his gaze shifting to the astrophysicist in confusion. "What are you-?"

"Your labs have samples of Miss Burkle's DNA on file," Sam explained, looking eagerly over at Angel. "I… can't explain how, exactly- I'm only telling you this much because you obviously already keep your share of secrets from the rest of the world- but if you could provide us with a sample of her DNA, we could extract her soul and clone a new body for her before aging it to her current age in a matter of months…"

Her voice trailed off as her smile faltered. "Except… that would save _her_, but we can't save her memory…"

"We never recovered that part of the technology?" Daniel asked.

"Even if we knew where it was, we don't have time to get it here before the rate of infection would have ravaged Miss Burkle's brain to the point that we'd be unable to take any kind of scans," Sam said, looking apologetically at Angel. "I'm sorry, but-"

"You don't need to worry about that," Angel said, smiling thoughtfully as he looked between them. "I can vouch for the fact that the soul has its own memory; whenever I was cursed, it always took me a few minutes to remember what had happened since I lost it, even if I knew that time _had _passed."

"OK, that's… good," Sam said, nodding gratefully at Angel even as the sceptical expression on her face made it clear that she was unsure how to react to that; the idea of there being evidence that the soul had its own memory raised various theological questions that she clearly wasn't sure how to process right now. "If the soul remembers on its own, it _should _be possible to just… transplant the soul into the new body…"

"So… does that mean that you have a way to extract her soul?" Daniel asked, looking anxiously at Angel.

"I think so," the vampire said, nodding at Daniel with a smile. "Give me a few minutes, and then both of you meet me in Fred's room; last I checked, she was still resting, so we _might _have a chance…"

* * *

AN: If anyone thinks I made it too easy, just remember one thing; Angel's had his vision already, so there are other factors in play right now…


	4. Saving Souls

Disclaimer: _Stargate: SG-1_ and all related concepts are the property of MGM, while the character of Spike belongs to Joss Whedon and James Marsters, among other people (Also, the original idea for this series came from Jedi Buttercup's 'An Unexpected Gift', so I don't own it either, although I _have _put my own spin on things, and have been given his full permission to use his idea)

Feedback: I'd appreciate it, of course

AN: This turned out to be a shorter chapter than expected, but mainly because I wrote the first scene and then it didn't feel right having more happen afterwards; hope you like what I came up with regarding Fred's fate in this world

The Old One

After they'd arrived in Fred's room, Sam and Daniel were left in the awkward position of not knowing what to do next. Fred seemed to be sleeping fairly peacefully at this point, even if she looked far too pale for anyone who wasn't Spike or Angel, but the readouts on the medical equipment attached to her weren't exactly encouraging.

She had checked in with the lab before coming here, and had been able to confirm that they had samples of Fred's DNA prior to infection- most likely taken in case Fred was ever carrying out experiments and needed to confirm whether her DNA had contaminated a sample- so creating a clone should be straightforward enough once they had access to the right equipment; she just hoped that Angel's claim that they had a means of extracting Fred's soul would be safe…

She was thinking about extracting someone's soul to save their life; her life had become even stranger since she met Spike.

Thoughts of her strange life were cut short when Angel walked into the room, wearing a long black coat and hands in his pocket.

"Where-?" Daniel began.

"_Involvere_!" Angel proclaimed, pulling a crystal out of his pocket and holding it in front of him, generating a strange burst of energy that seemed to fill the room without doing anything to the room or its inhabitants.

"OK," Angel said, looking between the two members of SG-1, "we've got about six minutes before the glamour collapses, so here's the situation; _this_-" he pulled out what looked like a gun made out of bone connected to some kind of round glass jar, "is what I'm provisionally calling a 'soul extractor' as the real name's overly complicated to pronounce in English; it was used by the soul trade division of the supernatural black market a few years ago to extract and hold souls before they were acquired by collectors. My team and I took out the main people responsible for operating that division of the market, and we released the souls they had in their archives, but some of their equipment was recovered by Wolfram & Hart and kept in storage just in case; it might be just what we need right now."

"OK…" Daniel said, looking uncertainly at the vampire as he reached over to take the offered extractor from him; it was a mark of the lives they'd lived that the idea of a supernatural black market wasn't that strange to him. "And the… crystal thing?"

"Generated a glamour so that we can be sure nobody's watching us," Angel explained. "I have to be sure we have privacy while talking about this."

"Why do you need privacy?" Sam asked. "I thought that you were in charge here?"

"Just of this branch," Angel said grimly. "And I recently learned that there's something else out there that's much bigger than any of us knew."

"What?" Daniel asked, looking at the vampire in confusion.

"The Circle of the Black Thorn," Angel explained. "They're an elite organisation focused on acquiring power in preparation for the Senior Partners' planned apocalypse, making sure man's inhumanity to man keeps on rolling, that kind of thing; they basically act on the Partners' behalf on this plane of existence. I learned that the Circle existed a month or so ago, but I haven't been able to do anything about it; my… source… didn't give me many clues to their identity."

"And I'm guessing they're not easy to infiltrate?" Sam asked, exchanging a grim glance with Daniel.

"From what I've found, if I was going to even talk to one of them, I'd need to give up my position as champion and kill one of my team," Angel explained, grimly looking at the unconscious Fred. "Which is why I was thinking that this could be the perfect opportunity to make them think I'm giving in to the power without actually _losing _anyone…"

"Oh," Daniel said, looking between the extractor and the crystal in understanding. "So… you're thinking that we extract Fred's soul while the room's protected by this glamour, we act like this plan didn't work, and then you… pretend that you arranged for this to happen while we're getting her new body ready?"

"If you can do it," Angel said, looking at the two of them with a particularly grim expression. "This is Fred's _soul _we're talking about here; I'll do what I can to save her life regardless, but I wouldn't even be considering this unless I was afraid that my best won't be enough, and I need to know I have a fallback plan that can help me get into the Circle _and _save her."

She might not know the vampire before her that well, but looking at the desperation in Angel's manner as he considered even the possibility of losing Fred, Sam knew that he was being honest about that much.

This plan involved an insanely complicated combination of the world she thought she knew and the world they'd only glimpsed since Spike had materialised out of the amulet in Daniel's office, but their plan _could _work…

"We can do it," she said, looking confidently at the vampire; the theological implications of Angel's revelation about the nature of the soul raised various questions, but she had to focus on the priority right now. "All we need is a DNA sample, and then, if you're right about how the soul… has its own memory… we _can _save her life."

"But… how are you going to fake responsibility for her death?" Daniel asked, looking at Angel uncertainly. "I mean, we were talking about saving her earlier…"

"The glamour I just cast should create the illusion that the extractor failed to remove Fred's soul and we spent time trying to figure out an alternative before giving up," Angel explained. "I can create a fake paper trail that'll suggest I really did arrange for Illyria's resurrection and Fred's death- the Circle will assume I just faked my efforts to save her to deflect attention from me once _they_ find the evidence- but I'll need a safe way to get in touch with you guys afterwards so that you can let me know when Fred's new body is ready."

"I can arrange that," Sam said, nodding at him in understanding. "We've… had some experience at arranging communication lines when we don't want to be overheard by our enemies; if we can sort out some code phrases before we leave, I can set something up for later and get in touch with you when it's ready."

"Just so long as you keep us up-to-date on things at this end as well," Daniel added. "What you're talking about… it sounds like you might need some help."

"If everything I've seen is accurate, I may not even _survive _what I'm planning even with help," Angel said, shaking his head with a grimly amused smile as he looked at the archaeologist. "You may be good, but unless you can think of somewhere where we can hide from the Senior Partners-"

"We can," Sam said suddenly.

"You can?" Angel repeated. "You _do _know that we're talking about-"

"Considering what you've dealt with in the past, and with Spike setting a precedent for… well, for the benefits of your expertise… we can probably find somewhere safe for you," Daniel said, smiling thoughtfully at Sam before looking back at Angel. "We can't tell you anything without you signing some of the confidentiality agreements, and it's going to take a while to make the arrangements at our end, but since we both have things to do first, it probably balances out."

"Good," Angel said, nodding thankfully at Daniel before indicating the extractor. "The glamour's about to end; get Fred's soul out of her and we'll worry about everything else later."

Nodding in agreement, Daniel turned to point the 'weapon' at Fred and pulled what probably passed for the trigger. For a moment, glowing energy seemed to emerge from the extractor to surround Fred's body before it vanished, leaving the formerly empty glass 'jar' on the extractor now holding what Daniel assumed was Fred's soul. If he had to compare it to anything, Daniel would have described it as an Ascended who had somehow been contained in a small form, with some kind of physical presence behind it as opposed to its usual glowing white light, but that didn't quite seem right…

He pushed those thoughts aside as he slipped the glowing orb into his pocket; considering Angel's obvious concerns that they were being watched, it would be best to get that thing somewhere secure until later.

"Will she… be all right?" Sam asked, indicating the now-soulless Fred uncertainly.

"She'll be fine; without the soul or anything animating it, the human body's basically in a coma except for… certain circumstances," Angel said, before he looked more firmly at the other two. "OK, Wes is looking up what we have about whatever's trying to take Fred's body; we've provisionally identified it as an Old One, but he needs to determine precisely which one."

"Old One?" Sam repeated in confusion.

"The original demons," Daniel said, a thoughtful expression on his face as though he was having to concentrate to remember what he was talking about (Sam suddenly recalled some of the things he'd mentioned about the memories he'd retained from Merlin; he might have lost Merlin's personality, but he still recalled some of the things he'd remembered as Merlin). "They were… they didn't _die _the way we do… most of them were just driven out of this dimension, but the exceptions were… were…"

"Trapped in something called the Deeper Well," Angel finished, looking curiously at Daniel for a moment before he dismissed it; Spike's comment about Daniel having had access to Merlin's memories was interesting, but this was hardly the time to discuss it even if the Partners hadn't been listening in. "Like I said, Wes is looking for anything else; if we can't do anything here, we might as well go there."

Daniel wasn't sure how Angel knew if the glamour had finished or if he was just guessing, but it wasn't important right now; they had Fred's soul safe (And that was something he never thought he'd have to worry about), and if Angel had been honest about his plans- which Daniel was fairly sure he had been- the priority right now was to focus on trying to save Fred's body and act as though nothing had changed.

On the bright side, Fred's soul had looked reasonably healthy- he might be judging it based on its resemblance to an Ancient, but his vague memories from his own Ascension and what he retained from Merlin assured him that the soul he'd seen was safe- so the only thing left for them to do was collect the sample from the lab and take it away once this crisis was resolved, one way or the other…

* * *

AN 2: If anyone wants clarification on how Daniel can still access Merlin's memories, it's basically similar to what happened in the recent 'Superior Spider-Man' storyline, where Doctor Octopus downloaded himself into Peter Parker/Spider-Man's body; he initially had access to Peter's memories, but when he realised that some part of Peter's personality was still in his body, he tried to 'delete' Peter from his mind, at the cost of erasing everything but the memories he'd already accessed. I'm therefore assuming that, while Daniel can't recall the technical details of the Sangraal, and cannot recall _all _of Merlin's life, he can remember details such as what Merlin shared with him about the history of magic and demons in this world, along with some of the other details about the Knights of Camelot.


	5. Darker Revelations

Disclaimer: _Stargate: SG-1_ and all related concepts are the property of MGM, while the character of Spike belongs to Joss Whedon and James Marsters, among other people (Also, the original idea for this series came from Jedi Buttercup's 'An Unexpected Gift', so I don't own it either, although I _have _put my own spin on things, and have been given his full permission to use his idea)

Feedback: I'd appreciate it, of course

AN: Just to clarify in advance, Fred will remain in an apparent coma now that her soul has been extracted; Ryan may have been able to take action in "I've Got You Under My Skin", but I'm assuming that he still had _some _kind of soul, whereas in the novel "Soul Trade"- which used the soul-extraction method that Fred's been subjected to here- a young girl whose soul was stolen remained completely comatose until her soul was restored

The Old One

Sitting silently beside Fred as she lay in her room- the doctors had soon confirmed that they couldn't do anything else to help her at Wolfram & Hart, so it had been decided that it was time to put a priority on comfort over medical expertise and send her home for a time- Wesley wondered how it had come to this.

The knowledge that the woman he loved was basically being 'hollowed out' to act as the host to an Old One was a disturbing prospect, but he had to have faith that Angel, Spike and that mysterious 'Vala' woman would pull through; he might only know Angel's skills from personal experience (He just hadn't seen enough of Spike's abilities during the battle on Questral to know what he was like now), but he knew enough about Spike's reputation from his pre-soul days to have faith that he would be a useful ally for Angel in this upcoming battle, and he'd assume that Spike had some evidence that the enigmatic 'Vala Mal Doran' could pull her weight as well…

He just wished that their prospective adversary had less of a reputation than it did. Illyria might not have been a matter of public knowledge, but from what he'd read in the source texts, its power had been significant even among the other Old Ones… and now Fred's body was being used as an egg/womb so that Illyria could be reborn in the modern world.

Doctor Jackson had promised to continue researching Illyria's history to see if he could find anything about slowing down the rate of the infection, but Wesley had his doubts that anything would come of it; the Old Ones were so ancient some speculated that they pre-dated the first spells, which made it unlikely that anything younger than them could affect them. Colonel Carter was working with Knox to try and find a scientific solution, but with simply freezing Fred eliminated, Wesley wasn't sure what was left to try; her skin was already so hard that they couldn't inject her with anything even if they had hope of finding something.

In a sad sense, he was grateful that Fred had fallen into a coma shortly before he'd moved her to her room for additional comfort. As much as he would have liked to speak to her at this time, at least this way he didn't have to see her in pain, and he could enjoy seeing her apparently rest… so long as he ignored her pale skin and the blue splotches that were developing on her cheeks, anyway.

Angel _had _to save her…

* * *

Angel had no idea how he'd let himself get talked into this plan under these circumstances. Trusting two people he'd only just met with Fred's soul was the most extreme risk he'd taken for some time, particularly when those people admitted themselves that they only had a limited experience of magic, and now here he was, setting off on a mission that he may have to sabotage if he wanted his larger plan against the Circle to succeed, his only back-up being a grand-childe he hadn't seen for years (And who'd only been working with him because he had to the last time they'd met) and a strange woman he'd never met before.

It wasn't that he doubted Spike's abilities or thought that the enigmatic 'Vala Mal Doran' would fold under the pressure- he'd developed a good knack for figuring people out over the years, and Vala didn't strike him as the kind of person who'd break down when things got rough- but he still didn't really _know _them…

"Haven't flown in one of these before," Spike said, glancing thoughtfully out of the window.

"Me neither," Vala noted thoughtfully. "I've been in… other things, though."

"I've been in a helicopter," Angel said, looking anxiously out of the window as he spoke; he didn't think that he actually had a _fear_ of flying, but focusing on that fear helped him feign concern about Fred's condition even if he knew her soul would be safe. "They don't… go this high."

"Back to the mother country," Spike said, out of a lack of anything else to say. "Hey, after we save Fred, we should hit the West End, take in a show."

"I've never seen _Les Mis_…" Angel mused with a slight smile; with everything going on in his life right now, taking a break to see a show sounded like a good idea…

"Trust me," Spike scoffed, "half-way through the first act, you'll be drinking humans again."

"Actually, I think I'd like it," Vala pointed out. "Tales of redemption… they're not something I encounter very often."

"Thought you didn't really believe in that stuff," Spike said, looking curiously at Vala.

"For _some_ people, yes; I'm not _that _cynical, Spike," Vala retorted, looking at the vampire with a pointed stare.

"I can't lose her," Angel said suddenly.

"You won't," Spike said, looking reassuringly at his grandsire.

"I lost Cordy," Angel noted.

"The cheerleader's dead?" Spike said, looking at his sire in surprise. "What happened to her?"

"She fell into a coma a few months back when a rogue higher power basically impregnated her with itself to try and escape into our world," Angel explained grimly.

Sharing this kind of thing with Spike felt strange, but something about this new version of Spike just made him easier to talk to about stuff; it wasn't like he and Spike were _competing _about anything now…

"Ah," Spike said, nodding sympathetically at Angel. "That had to suck."

"She was… impregnated by something to give birth to… itself?" Vala repeated in confusion, an apprehensive sympathy about her manner. "How did that work?"

"She spent some time on a different plane of existence last summer and was secretly possessed by this… rogue higher power before she returned to our level," Angel explained. "It initially manifested in her body without its memory, but then its memory was restored with a degree of its full powers, and it… was able to conceive a child that would be its true body on this plane. The pregnancy was accelerated and she gave birth barely a few weeks after conception, but the strain of giving birth to that thing left Cordy in a coma for a few months before she… died a couple of weeks ago."

"Ah," Spike noted, looking thoughtfully at his sire. "That part of the reason you took this job? Give her the best medical care while she was in a coma in case it helped?"

"It was… one of many things that prompted my decision," Angel confirmed solemnly. He might find this new Spike easier to talk to, but he wasn't going to admit to Connor's existence when he was keeping his son's memory secret from his own friends, even without the fact that Vala Mal Doran was a complete unknown right now.

"Anyway," Vala said, smiling over at Angel, "for what it's worth… I appreciate you being so welcoming towards us about this."

"Huh?" Angel said.

"Well, we just dropped in on you and ended up involved in what has to be a _very_ complicated situation by anyone's standards, but you've done what you can to accommodate us and even let us help into the bargain," Vala explained. "It's been complicated, and I'm really sorry about your friend, but it's been… interesting… to meet you all."

"Well…" Angel began, shrugging as he looked awkwardly at her for a moment before he gave Vala a slight smile of its own. "It's been… interesting to meet you and your friends."

"Not gettin' any ideas, there, are you?" Spike asked, his smile having a teasing aspect to it that had never been present in their past interaction.

"You were the one with that approach," Angel said (He wasn't going to bring up the idea that Spike wanted to be him right now; Vala and his new friends seemed to have helped Spike move on from that, and dragging him down wouldn't help).

* * *

Sitting in the lab, staring at the material gathered before her, Sam had to admit that it was amazing to take in everything that Winifred Burkle had recorded about how magic could interact with science. Spike had given her some things to think about regarding spells, and Daniel had shared some of the details he'd remembered about Merlin's knowledge of magic, but a sizeable portion of this lab seemed to be dedicated to exploring how the two came together, even if most of the information recorded was highly speculative…

Unfortunately, as interesting as it was to read about this information, she just didn't have the time to explore this information if she was going to at least look like she was trying to help Fred. She had managed to find and conceal a sample of Fred's DNA from some of the lab's archives- she acknowledged Angel's warning, but it wasn't like these 'Senior Partners' he was talking about could watch everything she did, and there were other reasons for her to want the sample- but she was running out of ideas for what she could do with what she had available…

As the door opened, Sam looked up to see Gunn and Knox come storming in, Gunn looking particularly anxious as he scanned the lab before his eyes fell on her.

"Have you tested cryogenics yet?" the lawyer asked.

"Cryogenics?" Sam repeated in surprise.

"Yeah; we freeze her until we can find a more permanent solution-" Knox began.

"I already tested that," Sam said, looking apologetically at the two men.

"What?" Gunn said in shock. "How'd-?"

"I ran a test on the cell samples earlier, but then… Daniel and I got caught up in trying out another theory and it fell to the back of my mind," Sam said, shaking her head in regret. "The blood cells froze, but the infection continued regardless; I guess it just… slipped my mind to make sure that the rest of you all knew that it wouldn't work."

"_Damnit_!" Gunn yelled, slamming one hand against the wall in exasperation before he looked over at the two scientists, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself. "OK, that's a bust; do you guys have _anything _else?"

"I don't… um…" Knox began, swallowing anxiously as he sat down in a nearby chair, shaking his head in exasperation. "Look, I'd never tell her this, but I… I care about Fred more than… She's like no one I've met, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Gunn said, sitting down opposite Knox, Sam sitting between and away from them as she looked at them both, feeling awkwardly like she was intruding on a private moment but unwilling to leave and draw more attention to her presence.

"And nothing would make me happier than to be the White Knight in this situation and to have her look at me the way that…" Knox confessed, before his voice trailed off as though lost for words. "I mean, I don't just care about Fred, I practically worship it."

Sam's blood froze at that statement.

"It?" she and Gunn said simultaneously.

"What?" Knox said, looking back at them.

"Not 'her'," Gunn clarified, Sam still staring at Knox as she tried to process what she'd just heard. "You said 'I worship _it_'."

The casual smile on Knox's face as he realised he'd been rumbled suddenly reminded Sam of that sickening moment when she realised that her Replicator double had been playing them.

"Oops," he said nonchalantly, as though it didn't even matter that he'd just exposed his real agenda.

Even after training to fight Jaffa for years, Sam had rarely seen someone move as fast as Gunn did at that moment. Lunging from his chair, Gunn grabbed Knox by the lapels of his lab-coat and slammed him into a lab desk, breaking glass as he glared at the other scientist.

"You did this!" he yelled, glaring at the other man. "You did all of this!"

"Technically," Knox protested, "that's not the case; I just played my part-"

"Why?" Sam said, glaring at the man before her in disgust. "What would you have to gain by letting something like this… _Illyria _thing out of its box?"

"Exactly; what's this all about?" Gunn asked. "Jealousy? You couldn't stand the thought of Wes winning her, so you _kill_ her?"

"No!" Knox protested, actually sounding genuinely indignant as he shrugged Gunn off him and walked away. "I meant everything I said about her. I chose Fred because I love her, because she's worthy. You think I'd have my god hatched out of some schmuck?"

"What are you…?" Gunn began, suddenly lost at this news.

"This was all set in motion millions of years ago," Knox said, grinning at the two of them. "There's just no way to stop it."

"There's _always _a way to stop prophecy," Sam said firmly.

"Yeah," Gunn said, joining her in glaring at Knox. "Angel's already on his way-"

"Oh, he's on the right track, but it doesn't matter," Knox said with a mocking grin. "He's not gonna save her."

"You don't know Angel," Gunn said grimly.

"And you _really _don't know Spike and Vala," Sam added.

"Oh, it doesn't matter," Knox said. "I know enough about them to know that they're going to have to _let _her die in the end."

"What-?" Gunn began.

"We'll discuss _that _later," Sam said, glaring between the two men before she focused on Knox; she wasn't in the mood to discuss religious issues with a human fanatic after spending so much time dealing with the more fanatical devotion of the Jaffa, particularly when she knew so little about demon worship. "What do you mean, this was all set in motion millennia ago?"

"Only those of the faith know what was to happen, and there's only a few of us now," Knox explained, stepping back to grin at Gunn and Sam as he continued to talk. "I came to L.A. because I knew that's where its kingdom has been. It was supposed to teleport back to the base of its power, but the continents drifted- which they do. I had others help me get it here, but then it got stuck in- would you believe it- customs."

Sam briefly wondered why Gunn was looking so unnerved at that statement, but the question was answered when Knox reached into his lab coat and pulled out a piece of paper.

"But you took care of that," Knox explained in satisfaction. "You signed the order to bring it into the lab so you could get another brain boost."

"What?" Sam said, looking at Gunn in shock. "Why-?"

"Not now," Gunn said, looking anxiously at her before focusing on Knox. "You really think some screwy prophecyis going to stop Angel?"

"We're all just part of the great machine," Knox said. "All I've done is play my part. What Angel's fighting against is older than the concept of time. I couldn't stop it. There's nothing left to do now, but wait to figure out-"

Gunn decked Knox with a powerful punch before he could finish that sentence, glaring at the fallen scientist and grabbing a nearby metal canister before Sam grabbed his arm.

"He's down," she said, looking firmly at Gunn. "In the meantime, what was Knox talking about with that 'brain boost'?"

Gunn looked uncertainly at her for a moment before he sighed in resignation.

"Before we came here, I was… well, I was basically a street punk," he explained solemnly, putting the canister down. "I spent my life taking out vamps on the street, living for the moment, focused on the cause… God, one point I sold my soul for a truck just because I didn't see a future…"

He sighed. "Then we came here, and I was given the chance to be more than just the muscle… they gave me this mental upgrade thing, downloading a whole bunch of legal knowledge into my head so that I could act as the team lawyer, working the system so that we could use this place the way we wanted to…"

"I see," Sam said, looking at him in a non-judgemental manner; she'd never gone that far herself, but she could appreciate the temptation to take steps to move beyond what you were before. "So… what happened?"

"I started losing it a few weeks back; had trouble recalling specific terms and precedents, that kind of thing," Gunn explained. "Thought I was just tired at first, but then I spoke to a doc who described it as the whole 'Flowers for Algernon' syndrome- what I'd received was just a temporary upgrade that would soon wear off- but he said he'd only make it permanent it if I helped him get some box through customs. I knew there'd be a price, but I didn't think it'd be one of us… I didn't think anyone would get that hurt… I thought if it was something _that _bad we'd work out how to stop it…"

Looking at the man before her, who'd seemed so strong when she first met him and who was now virtually reduced to tears as he realised what he had done, Sam found it all too easy to see what had happened.

She might not have been in that position herself, but she could easily understand not wanting to go back to the way you'd been before; the thought of losing the new relationship she'd formed with her father over her years in the SGC alone was particularly depressing…

"I'm not going to pretend to understand what kind of role you played in this, Mr… Gunn," she said at last, looking solemnly at him. "What I _do _know is that you're not the first person to be so eager to get what you're after that you miss the fine print until it's too late; my team and I once nearly made a deal with a… foreign government engaged in a civil war before we realised that they were the villains in the conflict because we wanted their technology. You made a mistake, but I'm not going to judge you for taking a risk like that for your own benefit; you were in a very complicated situation and I'm not qualified to point fingers."

"Fred's _dying _because of me-!" Gunn began.

"She's dying because this man has a warped obsession with an ancient demon and has a warped way of expressing affection; you just made it easier for him to get it here, but he would have found another way to get it here if he's as devoted as he seems to be," Sam corrected firmly, indicating Knox as he lay on the ground beside them. "Who's to blame for what isn't as important as the fact that we've taken out a key player in this conspiracy and you know someone else who's involved in this; is there someone who can keep an eye on Knox while we talk to that doctor you mentioned?"

Gunn looked at her in an appraising manner for a moment, evidently trying to decide whether she was being honest about her decision, until he nodded in acknowledgement.

"Yeah," he said, eyes narrowing as he looked contemptuously at the man on the ground. "I've got a couple of ideas about where we can leave this son of a bitch…"

* * *

Considering the severity of the situation that had brought them here, Vala didn't want to say anything too negative about their destination, but so far she was feeling somewhat disappointed. She'd heard that England had a great reputation for natural beauty and fascinating cities, but she'd barely managed to see anything after the jet had landed as Angel and Spike were hurried to a car that was somehow protected from the last rays of sunlight of that day, and then driven all the way to the outskirts of a mist-covered forest after the sun set, leaving the three of them to just keep walking towards the heart of the trees where the 'Deeper Well' was apparently located.

"When is a door not a door?" Spike pondered. "When it's not sodding well there."

"Right there," Angel said, halting as he indicated a large tree ahead of them, with twisted branches and a large opening at its base.

"That's the entrance to the Deeper Well?" Vala said in surprise. "I was expecting something… well… flashier."

"These kind of things are best disguised as something that'll blend in, luv," Spike said, smiling over at her. "It's not like your usual sparring partners where they need to blow their own trumpets all the time-"

Spike's explanation was interrupted as light suddenly flashed around them- they would have attributed it to a flash of lightning if it wasn't for the lack of rain- followed by two figures dressed in leather armour and carrying two large swords emerging from the tree, hurrying towards them.

"_That's _not good…" Vala noted, suddenly feeling frustrating under-armed; Spike and Angel had their vampire strength, and she'd done some training at the SGC, but that wouldn't be enough against these numbers.

"Vala, stand back," Angel said, looking over at her before glancing at Spike. "Spike, hold my hand."

Looking quizzically at the other vampire, Spike nevertheless did as he had been told, taking Angel's hand and smiling at what he felt there. "St Petersburg."

"Thought you'd forgotten," Angel replied, before the two released their grip on each other's arms, revealing a length of wire between them. As Vala watched, the two vampires waited until the creatures were right in front of them, and then stepped aside and pulled the wire taut, the creatures running into the wire with such force that it severed their necks. Grabbing the dead demons' fallen swords, Angel and Spike leapt into action against the next wave of demons, Spike pausing only briefly to toss Vala another sword before he dived into action himself. The creatures were fairly strong combatants, but it didn't take long to determine that their actual combat skills were shockingly limited; Vala had never even really used a sword before now, and even she was able to deflect most of their attacks even if she had trouble landing any serious blows of her own.

A few parries and punches were generally all the two vampires and the ex-Goa'uld host needed to put down each creature before moving on to the next one, the sheer number of forces arrayed against them the only real problem they had to overcome. At one point two charging demons managed to knock Spike down, but his fall was cushioned by the bodies of the previously defeated demons, allowing him to quickly regain his balance and deliver a fatal chest-wound to the creature that had knocked him down, a final stab from Angel ending the last demon left standing.

"Is that all?" Angel yelled to the sky. "We haven't even started!"

"I'd say that's enough," another voice said, as a man appeared from the tree gateway to walk towards them. The new arrival had shoulder-length brown hair and was dressed in a smarter version of the leather armour worn by the creatures, as well as a long brown cloak.

"Drogyn," Angel said, looking at the man in surprise.

"Angel," the man responded.

"You're the keeper of the Well?"

"Have been for decades," Drogyn said with a firm nod.

"Well, who in the bloody-?" Spike began.

"_Do not_ ask me a question," Drogyn said, glaring at Spike. "If you ever ask me a single question, I will kill you outright; don't think for a moment that I can't."

"He can," Angel noted quietly. "He would."

"Pardon?" Vala said.

"You're here about Illyria," Drogyn said, ignoring Vala's question to look at Angel.

"Yes," Angel said.

"Walk in," Drogyn said, turning around towards the tree.

"But how-?" Spike began

"I just said to you, not _one moment ago_, DON'T ask," Drogyn said, staring intently at Spike for a moment before he resumed his path towards the tree.

"Seriously," Angel said, looking over at Spike. "He doesn't like questions."

"Why the bloody hell not?" the other vampire asked.

"He can't lie," Angel explained.

"Ah," Vala said.

Deciding not to follow that topic up, she simply followed the two vampires and the mysterious Drogyn into the tree. The four soon found themselves in a long dark underground passage, rough bumps in the passage ceiling that could have been roots or rocks.

"I would never have thought you'd end up here, Angel," Drogyn said as he led the way along the passage, a flaming torch in his hand.

"I could say the same," Angel replied.

"So you know each other?" Vala asked.

"That was a statement," Spike noted as Drogyn glared at the strange woman. "We already know you do."

"I'll tell you as much as I can," Drogyn said, turning around a corner as they continued along the passage. "The old ones were demons pure. They warred as we would breathe- endlessly. The greater ones were interred, for death was not always their end. Illyria was feared and beloved as few are. It was laid to death in the very depths of the well... until it disappeared a month ago."

"It vanished a _month _ago and you didn't do anything earlier?" Vala said incredulously.

"Merely a statement on your crap abilities as a jailer," Spike said as Drogyn shot Vala another glare.

"Your friends like to talk," Drogyn said, pausing to look at Angel.

"I just met Vala yesterday, but she makes a good point," Angel said. "The man I remember couldn't be stolen from so easily."

"The tomb was not stolen; it disappeared," Drogyn explained, before he continued walking. "I believe it was pre-destined to as part of Illyria's escape plan."

"That still sounds like an excuse-" Vala began.

"And as for my not noticing," Drogyn continued, extinguishing his torch in a tub of water as they entered another chamber, "well, my charges are not few."

As they walked into the chamber on the other side of the door, Angel, Spike and Vala's eyes widened in shock at the sight. They were currently standing on a small wooden bridge, which appeared fairly sturdy, but the bridge was over a deep pit filled with sarcophagi like the one that infected Fred, extending down until the bottom of the pit vanished in a white light.

"Bloody Hell," Spike noted.

"How far does this go down?" Angel asked, staring at the vast pit below them.

"All the way," Drogyn said solemnly. "All the way through the Earth."

"So…" Vala said uncertainly, looking anxiously at the pit below them, clearly trying not to imagine how far down that went, "the coffin was teleported away from _here_… and ended up in Los Angeles?"

"Illyria was a great power," Drogyn explained. "So great that, after millions of years dead, somewhere on this Earth, it still has acolytes."

"Bloody hell," Spike muttered. "There's always some nut, isn't there?"

"It's been freed," Drogyn said, looking at the three of them for confirmation. "The demon's essence."

"Yeah, it's been freed; why do you think we're here?" Spike asked, only to be met with a glare from Drogyn as he advanced towards the younger vampire. "And what's your favourite colour? What's your favourite song? Who's the goalkeeper for Manchester United? And how many fingers am I holdin' up?" He gave the mysterious man the finger before he continued. "You wanna kill me? Try. But I don't have time for your quirks."

"The power to draw back Illyria lies in there," Drogyn said as he turned back to look at Angel while indicating a door on the other side of the bridge, evidently deciding that being frustrated about the others asking questions wasn't worth the effort. "It requires a champion who has travelled from where it lies to where it belongs."

"You've got two of those right here," Angel said, looking back at Vala. "No offence; I just know that Spike's done something… Champion-esque, but I don't really know you…"

"No offence taken; I'm not sure I qualify either," Vala said, smiling in understanding at the dark-haired vampire.

"But I didn't know it was free," Drogyn said, shaking his head grimly, looking thoughtfully down into the pit before he looked back at the vampire. "If we bring the sarcophagus back to the well, it will draw Illyria out of your friend...and into every single person between here and there. It will become the mystical equivalent of airborne. It will claw into every soul in its path to keep from being trapped. Tens, maybe hundreds of thousands, will die in agony if you save her."

Vala couldn't believe that.

The only way to save Fred was to put _thousands _of other people at risk…?

How powerful _was _this thing?

"No," Angel said, walking to the edge of the bridge, lost for anything else to say.

"That's madness," Spike said, shaking his head in grim contemplation.

"This is a place of madness," Drogyn said solemnly. "I'll prepare the spell. Your choice."

With that solemn statement, Drogyn walked away, leaving Angel staring at the pit in silence while Spike and Vala tried to process what they'd just heard.

"Could we-?" Spike asked, looking sharply at Vala.

"Everything that could move Fred from Los Angeles to here that quickly is too far away to get here in time," Vala said, shaking her head regretfully. "Even if we could call the SGC from here, there's nothing we can do."

"_Damnit_…" Spike groaned, staring up in exasperation, taking care to keep his voice low enough for his grandsire not to hear. "Where's the point in having a sodding spaceship if you can't use it when it's needed…?"


End file.
